Accident prone lawyers?

I laughed out loud when I saw a headline that lawyers are among the most accident-prone drivers in Britain. Self-serving or a case of art imitating life? Or does this prove beyond reasonable doubt, that solicitors and barrister are just bad drivers? I’m inclined to think the latter…

This is despite the fact that I’ve only ever had one accident myself, some 20 odd years ago!

The very interesting article referred to a report complied from research which matched occupations to insurance claims, and which rated barristers and solicitors among the 10 occupations most likely to have made a claim in the past 5 years.

In contrast, those who work in a manual job are, according to the research compiled by Tiger.co.uk, the safest drivers, with fencers coming out on top in terms of being least likely to claim. Other ‘safe’ drivers, from an insurer’s point of view, were stonemasons, concrete workers and dock workers.

High on the list of those likely to claim, but not as high as lawyers, were GPs, who were the 13th most likely group to claim; nurses appear safer at 82nd place in the table. Dentists are 16th, while dental technicians were ranked 288th safest. I know who will be doing my next scale and polish!

This research is of particular interest, as we are facing a change at the end of the year which will see an end to insurers being able to base insurance premiums on a driver’s sex. This will mean that your occupation may account for a quarter of your risk profile, up from 6%-13% currently.

So, in theory, this should mean that drivers in ‘safer’ occupations will see premiums fall, while those in jobs deemed risky will have to pay more. However, information from insurers indicates that manual workers were classed as high risk based on the size of the claims they make. So even though they are far less likely to make a claim, any accidents or thefts may cost the insurer above average.

One theory put forward by the commercial director at Tiger.co.uk for the rankings, was an aversion to form filling, as it was considered that those at the top of the table were more likely to have more powerful cars, but equally, much more confident and willing to deal with the paperwork involved in making a claim.